Delilah Pergola
High Street Bakery | Philadelphia
FEBRUARY 2024
Delilah Pergola grew up around her mother’s garden on Cape Cod and felt a connection to the natural world from an early age. The seeds of her life as a baker were planted in 2015 when she was a barista and photographer living in Austin, Texas. While working at Easy Tiger, Head Baker David Norman heard that Pergola had an interest in baking and welcomed her into the kitchen. While there, Norman and his team taught her how to make French and Nordic-style laminated doughs and pastries, but it wasn’t until after she left and moved back to Massachusetts that she taught herself how to bake bread.
She left the Cape and headed to Nashville with a severe case of the bread bug. Pergola worked her way up to production manager at Frothy Monkey, taking charge of their naturally leavened bread program. Then, she accepted a new position at Proper Bagel as pastry chef, where she independently managed production. Pergola, wanting to be closer to nature, left Nashville and moved to Vermont, where she learned how to make porridge breads from Sam Temple at Fire Dog Breads. Pergola then went off on her own, founding Propaganda Pastry, selling her pastries and breads at farmers markets and distributing to wholesale accounts.
After gaining some recognition for her work, Pergola was offered a job by Dedalus Wine and joined their team as head baker. In 2021, Pergola was looking to expand on her skills and run a larger team. She took root in Philadelphia after Restaurateur Ellen Yin invited Pergola to lead the bakery at High Street Hospitality. At High Street Bakery, Pergola has taken command of the program while implementing her own technique, style, and taste into her baked goods, like her sprouted rye porridge bread.
